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Korea's terms of trade sank for 15 months in a row in June as import costs rose at a much faster clip than export prices, central bank data showed Thursday.

The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods ― a gauge of overall trade terms ― came to 85.18 last month, down 10 percent from a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

From the previous month, the figure was also down 0.6 percent.

The index is calculated by dividing the index for export prices by that for import prices. It shows the amount of imports a country can buy for each unit of exports.

Import prices of oil and key commodities have been rising sharply amid the protracted global supply-chain disruptions and a rebound in demand from the pandemic.

Import prices jumped 22 percent on-year in June, with export prices gaining 9.9 percent.

The index for export volume fell 2.7 percent on-year in June, the first drop in nine months, and that for the value of exports rose 6.9 percent, marking the 20th straight month of gains.

The index for the value of import prices surged 20.5 percent last month, marking the 19th consecutive month of increases. The index for import volume dropped 1.3 percent, the first decline in two months. (Yonhap)